By Our Staff Writer- 16^th-22^nd Aug 2010

Ban Ki Moon

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged participants at a United Nations student forum to use their voices for the common good, and to build a culture of tolerance and understanding in a world that is more connected than ever before.  In a video message to the Second Annual Global Model UN Conference that is being held in Kuala Lumpur-Malaysia, the UN Secretary-General said, “…it is often said that young people are the leaders of tomorrow.  But you are already leaders.  Your ideas, your actions, [and] your decisions make a difference”. (more…)

Last week, Uganda’s main media houses reported a number of important issues that Uganda Correspondent feels its weekly readers must not miss out on. (more…)

By Our Staff Writer – 9^th-15^th Aug 2010

Paul Kagame

Incumbent Rwandan President Maj. General Paul Kagame has won the tiny central African country’s second post-genocide elections with a massive landslide.

“His Excellency Paul Kagame has 1,610,422 votes – this is equivalent to 92.9%.  Fellow Rwandans, this is the result in eleven districts.  Clearly, there is likely to be not much difference even after we announce the result in the remaining districts”; said Chrysologue Karangwa from Rwanda’s Electoral Commission.  Kagame’s win was really never in doubt.  First of all, Kagame still enjoys both local and international goodwill for his role in ending the 1994 genocide that claimed the lives of over 800,000 ethnic Tutsi’s and moderate Hutus. (more…)

By Dennis Otim – 9^th-15^th Aug 2010

Dr. Kizza Besigye

The Inter Party Cooperation [IPC], a loose alliance between Ugandan opposition parties FDC, UPC, Jeema, and CP is split right through the middle on the question of whether or not to boycott, postpone, or participate in the 2011 elections.

Recent statements issued by both FDC President Dr. Kizza Besigye and UPC President Dr. Olara Otunnu clearly suggest that at best, their 2011 strategy is not yet crystallised and settled.  At worst, there may be deep seated individual party interests between the IPC partners that make it difficult for them to agree on a unified strategy. (more…)

By Sharon J. Tibenda – 9^th-15^th Aug 2010

Traitor?

The death of former Uganda President Godfrey Lukongwa Binaisa QC [RIP] on 5^th August 2010 has elicited mixed reactions from members of the general public with others calling him a “ traitor” for his role [as the then Attorney General] in the 1966 Buganda Crisis.

Such negative outbursts are, however, rare in Africa.  In most parts of Africa, and certainly in Uganda, it is still considered impolite, and perhaps, even a “taboo”, to say bad things about people who have passed on.   On this occasion however, some ultra loyal Baganda monarchists who are still angry at Binaisa’s 1966 role, have dispensed with that cultural norm of decency and attacked the late Ex-President of Uganda in death. (more…)

By Timothy Nsubuga – 9^th-15^th Aug 2010

EC Boss Kigunddu

The opposition’s struggle to have the Kiggundu-led Electoral Commission [EC] disbanded and replaced before the next general elections scheduled for February 2011 took a new and ugly twist last week.

Some young extremists within the opposition IPC alliance who spoke to Uganda Correspondent in Kampala said as far as they were concerned, EC Boss Badru Kiggundu’s children are now legitimate targets for abduction and even torture.  This, they said, would now be their tactic of last recourse to force Kiggundu and his fellow EC Commissioners to resign and pave way for a new and credible EC. (more…)

By Dennis Otim – 9^th-15^th Aug 2010

NRM Campaign Bus

When news broke last week that Museveni’s government was going to pay $14.2 million [approx Shs31.3 billion] to the government of Burundi “as compensation for material and financial support it had offered to the National Resistance Army [NRA] before the rebel group seized power in 1986”, alarm bells rang immediately.

A US based Ugandan called Robert Ojwang, for example, wildly suggested in an email to Uganda Correspondent that “…the Shs31.3billion Burundi war debt is actually money that the NRM is taking from the treasury to fund its campaigns in 2011”. (more…)

By Timothy Nsubuga – 2^nd-8^th Aug 2010

The Kiboko Squad

The mystery that has surrounded the command structure and indeed purpose of the infamous “Kiboko Squad” militia for months may be about to be unravelled.  Investigations conducted by Uganda Correspondent over the last few weeks have established a very strong link between Maj. General Kale Kayihura’s Uganda Police Force, the Uganda People’s Defence Force, and the “Kiboko Squad” militia that has been tormenting Ugandan opposition activists with impunity.  But let’s first remind ourselves how the “Kiboko Squad” made their unglamorous debut.

The Grand Entrance

The chosen occasion was the “Mabira Riots”! (more…)

By Sharon Tibenda – 2^nd-8^th Aug 2010

Dr. Olara Otunnu

Dr. Olara Otunnu, the President of one of Uganda’s top opposition political parties the Uganda Peoples’ Congress [UPC] is scheduled to address Ugandans in the United Kingdom for the first time since he was elected UPC Party President early this year.

The mobilisation message from the organisers that is doing the rounds online and via mobile phone SMS says “…we are delighted to inform you that Dr. Olara Otunnu the President of the UPC Party, former UN Under-Secretary and one of the leaders of the IPC will be visiting the United Kingdom and London in particular on the 14^th of August 2010”. (more…)